MURDERER DID NOT BELIEVE THAT CIGARETTES WERE BAD FOR HIM

How a cigarette finally solved a brutal murder that haunted a quiet California town for decades

 

By Alyssa Guzman 

 

Daily Mail

Mar 1, 2026

 

 

Sarah Geer, 13, was raped and murdered in Cloverdale, California, on May 23, 1982 

 

Cloverdale is full of lush greenery with bright citrus trees lining the streets in the heart of California's wine country.   

Forty years ago the upper-middle-class town, that now has 9,000 residents, was the last place you would expect a violent rape and murder to take place on the street. 

Neighbors looked after each other, and children played freely outside at night.

But in 1982, 13-year-old Sarah Geer was raped and strangled to death. Her attacker hid in plain sight for nearly 45 years.

'This forever changed our little town,' mayor Todd Lands told the Daily Mail. 

Now 64-year-old James Oliver Unick has finally been convicted of Sarah's brutal murder and will pay the price for his crimes, all because of a discarded cigarette. 

Sarah had been having a sleepover at her friend Dana's home. Sarah, Dana, and her friend's mother had gone shopping and had dinner in Santa Rosa before dropping Sarah off at her home around 8pm on May 23, 1982. 

But instead of turning in for the night, Sarah ventured out again around 11pm, this time to her friend Cheryl's house. She went to ask her friend if she wanted to go for a walk downtown, but Cheryl declined. 

 

James Oliver Unick escaped prosecution for nearly 45 years. He was arrested in 2024 (pictured) and has now been convicted

 

The two hung out for roughly 45 minutes before Sarah left and headed downtown that put her in the path of Unick's home, District Attorney Carla Rodriguez told the Daily Mail. 

At some point, Unick, then 20, forcibly dragged her down an alley and behind a fence near an apartment building, where he removed her shoes, partially undressed her, discarded her tampon and violently raped her. 

After assaulting her, he used Sarah's shorts to strangled her to death before fleeing the scene. 

The little girl's body was found the next morning by an off-duty fireman, who was coming home from his long shift, Rodriguez said. 

Sarah's uncle, who also testified at Unick's trial last month, identified the girl's body. 

Lands, who is a Cloverdale native, told the Daily Mail that in the 1980s it was normal for children to walk home alone late at night.

For nearly 45 years, Sarah's murder went unsolved, stumping investigators who had no leads and leaving the tight-knit community to wonder what happened to her. 

Her killing left 'parents and families nervous and suspicious, and made the neighbors more vigilant,' he said. 

 

During her late-night walk to downtown, Sarah had to pass Unick's residence (pictured). At some point, he forcibly dragged her down an alley and behind a fence near an apartment building and raped her

 

'I remember as a kid, Cloverdale started a "block parent" program, that put signs in their windows, to show kids where they could go for safety, if they were ever in trouble,' the 48-year-old said. 

For years her case went cold but when the budget allowed the police department to reopen the case, they did, Lands added. 

There was a brief resurgence in 2003 after a criminalist at the state Department of Justice developed a DNA profile based on the sperm sample found in Sarah's underwear, but the lead went nowhere as no one was a match in California's system. 

It led to nearly another decade of no leads, but the case began to pick up speed again in 2021, when the Cloverdale Police Department hired private investigator Kevin Cline to help solve the murder. 

In June 2023, Cline reached out to the FBI, hoping its much larger genealogy database could help generate any investigative leads, as technology far exceeded that used during the initial investigation in the 1980s. 

Eight months later, the FBI's database linked the sperm to four brothers, including James Oliver Unick. 

Federal agents started building profiles on all the brothers, finding that two of them resided out of state, while the two others - including James Oliver Unick - lived in California. 

Agents also found that he had originally been interviewed by police during the initial investigation. 

'So, investigators focused on getting a surreptitious DNA sample from him first,' Rodriguez told the Daily Mail. 

After surveilling him for months, investigators swooped in and picked up a cigarette he discarded in late May 2024.

A week later, a Department of Justice lab report linked the cigarette butt to the sperm fraction DNA profile found in Sarah's underwear, as well as to other DNA found on the clothing she was wearing at the time of her death. 

'It turned out to be a match to our evidence,' Rodriguez said.

A month and a half later, in July 2024, the Cloverdale Police Department pounced, dragging him into handcuffs and stuffing him into a cop car after arresting him at his home in Willows, which is roughly 140 miles away from Sarah's hometown. 

Unick had moved from Cloverdale to Willows around 1990, Rodriguez told the Daily Mail. 

And days later, the cheek swab they took at the time of his arrest came back as a direct match for the sperm sample in a DOJ lab, Rodriguez added. 

Agents also collected DNA samples from the other three brothers, all of which were 'confirmed to be excluded as contributors to the sperm profile from our evidence,' the district attorney added.

 

Cloverdale was considered a safe neighborhood where neighbors watched out for each other

The tree-lined town never forgot about Sarah and continued to demand justice for her 

 

Unick was charged with murder, rape, kidnapping, and forcible lewd acts with a minor under 14.  

He told investigators he didn't know Sarah and had no recollection of what happened decades ago when he was pushed for answers following his arrest. 

However, the rapist would switch his story during his month-long trial, stating that he and the 13-year-old had consensual sex after she propositioned him while he was playing a video game at a downtown arcade. 

He claimed they had sexual intercourse on a hillside near the Russian River and told jurors the girl had to have been murdered and assaulted by a different man who 'failed to leave behind any DNA evidence,' the DA's office said. 

Jurors rejected his version of events after two hours of deliberations and found him guilty. 

Unick will be sentenced in April. He is expected to get life without parole.

'The entire prosecution team is thankful to the dedicated investigators who worked so hard to solve Sarah’s murder,' Rodriguez told the Daily Mail about the conclusion of the case. 

'The residents of Cloverdale never forgot about Sarah and their police chief listened. This case shows that when a community works together, results happen.' 

 

Mayor Todd Lands (pictured left), a native of the town, remembered Cloverdale doing a 'block parent' program, where homes had signs to signal a safe place for children to go to when in trouble. DA Carla Rodriguez (pictured right) said the community's continued support of the case helped bring it to a close

 

Lands told the Daily Mail: 'With the proper preservation of evidence from the night of the crime, coupled with new technology and trained investigators, they were able to get justice for Sarah Geer. 

'I cannot imagine the pain this family went through. Losing a child to a horrific crime like this is my worst nightmare,' the father-of-two said. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Cloverdale Police Department and Unick's attorney, Gabriel Quinnan, for comment.